


Miami, FL to Orlando, FL

by bodingly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Star Gazing, This is a present and in no way should be taken seriously, a noncanon sequel to a story that isn't even done yet, au of that work, but pidge is nonbinary, if anything seems weird... that's the joke, more like star gayzing amirite, seems cracky at times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 02:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9299282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bodingly/pseuds/bodingly
Summary: College looks like it's going to be crazy, and this is only the first day.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nonverbalspell (AnionsareOnions)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnionsareOnions/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Houston, TX to Miami, FL](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9088105) by [nonverbalspell (AnionsareOnions)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnionsareOnions/pseuds/nonverbalspell). 



> This work in no way predicts or spoils the work I based this on. This is merely a noncanon birthday present to one of my favorite people in the world, who I gifted this to. Shiloh, you're super amazing, intelligent, wonderful, and pretty much the best person ever and I wish you nothing but the best birthday ever!!!

Pidge Holt created this group.  
10:18 AM  
Pidge Holt named the group UCF party train.

  
[Pidge Holt]: hey

  
Lance McClain set Keith Kogane’s nickname to nemo (nerd emo).  
Lance McClain set Pidge Holt’s nickname to nerdtron.  
Lance McClain set Hunk Garret’s nickname to hank.  
Lance McClain set Takashi Shirogane’s nickname to den mother.  
Lance McClain set his own nickname to coolkidmcclain.  
nerdtron left the group.  
coolkidmcclain added nerdtron.

  
[coolkidmcclain]: No escape  
[nerdtron]: fuck  
[den mother]: I thought lance wasn’t allowed to give us nicknames anymore  
[nerdtron]: i cant stop him on messenger  
[coolkidmcclain]: FREEDOM!!!!!  
[coolkidmcclain]: Also hunk where yat  
[nerdtron]: Isnt he driving you up  
[coolkidmcclain]: Yeah  
[nemo (nerd emo)]: Lance wtf  
[coolkidmcclain]: KIETH!!  
[coolkidmcclain]: KEITH!!  
[coolkidmcclain]: Whats up ole buddy ole pal  
[nemo (nerd emo)]: How the hell do you change names  
[coolkidmcclain]: Haha ;)

  
nemo (nerd emo) removed coolkidmcclain from the group.

  
[nemo (nerd emo)]: figured out how to do that at least

* * *

“I can’t believe he kicked me!” Lance said, juggling his phone in one hand and a slightly crumbled box in the other. He shoved the last box in and slammed the backdoor closed.

  
“Yeah, it’s not actually that surprising,” Hunk replied from around the corner, shoving a garbage bag full of clothes into the back seat. “Is this the last one?”

  
“One more left. Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”

  
“Hope we can make it fit,” Hunk grunted, shoving the bag into the car.

  
Lance stepped up the porch and bypassed the last garbage bag that was waiting for him in the foyer. In the kitchen, his mom was trying to keep herself busy packing them lunch for the road.

  
“We’re almost done, mama,” Lance said, smiling softly, carefully avoiding the subject of his mother’s tearful eyes.

  
“Aye, mijo, I can’t believe you’re leaving me,” she said with a watery smile, sniffing loudly. “I’m so proud of you. I know you’ll be busy, but don’t forget to call me, okay?”

  
“Never too busy for you, mama,” Lance said, pulling her into a hug. His throat seared with the effort he made not to cry in front of her. “I love you.”

  
“And I love you,” she said, openly crying now, her lips pulled into a smile. “Did you pack everything? Clothes? Paper? Toothbrush?”

  
“All of the above and everything else,” Lance said, “and I double checked this time, I swear.”

  
“I’m not driving up to drop anything you forgot off for you,” she said sternly, the effect ruined by her amused smile and the knowledge of the fact that despite his best efforts, her son had almost assuredly forgotten something he’d want to take up to Orlando with him. “You come down and get it.”

  
“If Hunk’s coming down, then I’m coming down,” Lance promised. “I’ll make Keith come, if you want to meet him.”

  
His mother went from stern to almost coy faster than he could blink.

  
“If you think you can share him with me for a few days, I’d love to meet the young man that makes my son so happy,” she said. “The both of you better be safe up there.”

  
“Hunk’ll watch us mama, I know you trust him.”

  
“He’s a responsible young man!” she said in mock admonishment. “You could learn a thing or two from—”

  
“Okay, okay,” Lance said, backing off with a cheeky grin. “I’ll grow up, get a job, do my taxes and buy a tie. You’ll see how responsible I can be.”

  
His mother smiled softly and handed him two paper bags. She hugged him again, then kissed his cheek.

  
“Just not too responsible, okay mijito?” she said. “My little boy, I’m going to miss you.”

  
“I’ll miss you too,” Lance said, and meant it. “I swear I’ll call tonight, but Hunk’s waiting and—”

  
“Ah, I know,” she said, shooing him off. “I need to get ready for work. You better keep your grades up! And have fun!”

  
“Well, which is it?” Lance said with a laugh, pivoting on his heel and heading back outside. He grabbed the last bag from the foyer and tossed it in the car where Hunk pointed.

  
“I can’t believe we’re really leaving,” Hunk said, waving at Lance’s mother when she came out to see them off.

  
Lance waved as Hunk pulled out of the curb, studying every detail of his home and his mother waving frantically outside it, as though it was the last chance he’d ever get to do it.

  
“Me neither,” Lance said, waving as Hunk shifted into drive and pulled away. He waved until he couldn’t see his mother anymore. “I don’t know whether to say good bye or good riddance to this place, honestly.”

  
Hunk hummed. “Same,” he said. “It’s like…I know I’ll be back, but…” he shrugged. “It feels weird.”

  
“Yeah,” Lance said, watching trees and businesses he’d seen a million times over the years pass by with scrutiny he had never afforded them before. “But on the bright side, we’re finally done with high school.”

  
“Fuck high school,” they said simultaneously.

  
They laughed, half at the absurdity of their situation and half at the nervousness of where they were going.

  
Hunk merged onto the freeway, and settled them in the left lane.

  
“Don’t know how your car gets passed 50 these days, let alone 80,” Lance said as Hunk’s car groaned at the speed it was going.

  
“Hey, she’s got character! And charm! Which is more than I can say for you most days,” Hunk said. “Now make yourself useful and open up the GPS so I don’t drive us back to Houston by mistake.”

  
“Calm down there, funny man, I’m doing it,” Lance said, waving a hand at him. “Lemme see your phone.”

  
“I’m not letting you add yourself back to the chat.”

  
“What? Why not?!”

  
“Keith banished you, and I’m not stepping in the middle of a lover’s quarrel,” Hunk said.

  
Lance turned tomato red.

  
“A _lover’s quarrel_?”

  
“Aww, you’re blushing!”

  
“I am not!”

  
Three and a half hours later, they reached an impasse: Lance believed he was far too cool headed to ever resort to blushing and therefore Hunk had no idea what he was talking about, and Hunk believed that if he was blind, he’d still see how full of shit Lance was because any mention of his boyfriend made Lance a puddle of emotional goo.

* * *

Keith and Shiro had grown so comfortable living together that they decided to keep the arrangement going at college.

  
“Do you have anything else to move?” Shiro called from the kitchen, clanging pots together as he shoved them into one of the few cupboards the cramped little kitchen of their two bed two bath with perhaps a little more aggression than necessary. “This kitchen is so small!”

  
“I’m good,” Keith yelled back, shoving his clothes into the already provided dresser in his new room.

  
Keith kept unpacking, thankful that he didn’t have much to organize. On his third (and final) box, Shiro knocked.

  
“You wanna grab lunch?” he said. “I’m sick of unpacking already.”

  
“Sure.” Keith grabbed his phone and checked the group chat; Lance and Hunk had gotten lost, but it looked like Pidge had added Lance again and helped them get back on track. Keith’s thumb slipped and hit the corner of the pop up screen, and the settings page popped up.

  
“Finally,” Keith muttered, scrolling through the page.

  
2:30 PM  
nemo (nerd emo) changed his nickname to keith.  
keith changed coolkidmcclain’s nickname to dumbkidmclame.

  
[keith]: Pidge do you want to go to lunch w me and shiro  
[keith]: He said he’s buying  
[nerdtron]: fuck  
[nerdtron]: hell yeah im ready  
[dumbkidmclame]: KEITH WTF  
[dumbkidmclame]: Pidge watch the language theres children here  
[dumbkidmclame]: Specifically yuo  
[nerdtron]: you*  
[den mother]: I didnt say I was going to pay but ill pay  
[nerdtron]: omg  
[nerdtron]: thank you shiro  
[dumbkidmclame]: What wait I WANT LUNCH SHIRO  
[den mother]: no

  
den mother left the group.  
keith added den mother.

  
[den mother]: I’ll take hunk though

  
Keith pocketed his phone and headed for Shiro’s car. Pidge lived about ten minutes from campus with their family and practically bounded up to the car when Shiro pulled into the driveway.

  
“Where are we eating?” they asked, smile wide on their face.

  
“Uh, probably fastfood,” Keith said. He and Shiro had batted around a few choices, but neither knew the area very well and didn’t really have a preference for anything anyway.

  
“Any suggestions?” Shiro asked.

  
“There’s food on campus,” Pidge said. “Coffee too.”

  
Shiro looked like he needed a pick-me-up after his battle with the kitchen appliances, so Keith didn’t comment when they passed a speed limit sign that didn’t match Shiro’s speedometer.

  
246: PM  
nerdtron changed den mother’s nickname to UCF’s fastest and furiousest.

  
[keith]: He’s not gonna be happy when he sees that  
[nerdtron]: Cover it up  
[keith]: How  
[nerdtron]: You don’t know?  
[keith]: That’s why im asking  
[nerdtron]: Haha  
[nerdtron]: Aaaa  
[nerdtron]: Aweqlneqji  
[nerdtron]: Perutnlakew  
[nerdtron]: Ok I think im safe  
[UCF’s fastest and furiousest]: Pidge if you weren’t actually 10 I’d ask if you were  
[nerdtron]: >:(

  
Shiro parked in the free parking lot and Pidge led the way to the Student Union Arboretum. Keith had never seen anything like it, but in the mildest way possible. It was a statement of fact and Keith didn’t feel the slightest drop of wonder about the place, other than the wonder that any sensible person had when staring at something that was Big™. Still, it was clean and well kept, and despite the fact that classes hadn’t started yet, it was bustling with employees trying to clear rooms for the new year.

  
Okay, maybe he felt a little wonder. Mostly relief, to finally be somewhere his skin didn’t crawl every time someone spoke to him. It was nice, not to feel like someone was breathing down his neck every time he moved around the house or wanted to go somewhere. This year was rapidly looking like it was going to be the best of his life.

  
“We can get pretty much anywhere through here,” Pidge said. “We should probably ask someone what’s good to eat though.”

  
Shiro and Keith didn’t argue. Pidge led them up to a group of employees walking together towards the staircase. They didn’t look too busy at the moment, so Pidge walked up to them and asked them where to eat around campus.

  
“There’s a Chick-fil-A in the breezeway that’s always pretty busy,” one employee, a girl of medium height and sharp eyes said. “Starbucks is also open, but I don’t think anything else is, yet.”

  
“Why just those two?” Keith asked.

  
The girl shrugged. “I’ve got friends who work there and they’ve got work today, but other than that, I couldn’t tell you. Nothing in the Union’s open today, unfortunately, or you could go to Huey Magoo’s.”

  
“Okay, we’ll check it out. Thanks a bunch!” Pidge said, leading Shiro and Keith out of the Union. The breezeway adjacent to the Union was nearly deserted, and when they saw that almost no one was in line, they decided to go to listen to the girl they talked to and went to Chick-fil-A.

  
It was quiet enough in the restaurant that they could hear the people in the back talking.

  
“I’ll take a grilled chicken sandwhich,” Shiro said. Someone in the kitchen groaned.

  
“We need grilled fillets,” a redheaded girl bagging sandwiches said to someone in the back of the kitchen.

  
“Uh, and a salad?” Shiro said, eying the cashier, who smiled apologetically.

  
“We try to make things fresh, so it might be a little bit of a wait,” she said. “Would you like anything else?”

  
“Chicken sandwich, no pickles, colby cheese,” Keith said. “Well done fries.”

  
Another groan came from the kitchen that everyone definitely heard, but chose not to address.

  
“A number 8 meal please,” Pidge said.

  
The cashier nodded and rang them up. Keith watched a tall, dark haired boy furiously shoveling high stacks of fries into cartons and the redhead frowning as she made sandwiches. He’d probably have to get a job on campus this semester to help cover his expenses. Maybe he’d make friends with those beautiful, charming, likely intelligent Chick-fil-A workers if one of them didn’t quit this semester. Keith shook his head, wondering where that thought had come from before putting it out of his mind.

  
They got their food and ate outside.

* * *

3:04 PM

  
[hank]: Yo where are you guys we’re done  
[nerdtron]: Headin to sbux shiro wants coffee  
[hank]: K we’re going there now  
[nerdtron]: Don’t get lost ;)

Hank removed nerdtron from the group.

* * *

“I don’t think it’s that way?” Hunk said, eyes scanning one of three exits in the Student Union.

  
Lance was jittery but trying to hide it as he led Hunk towards the second exit they were trying, which lead outside to smoothie shop. The breezeway was adjacent to the building at this exit.

  
“That’s it; we’re going around,” Lance snapped, more at the situation than at Hunk. He marched the two of them on the circular path, pointedly ignoring both the classroom buildings and Hunk’s desire to find a map. He was rewarded for his terrible planning by Starbucks coming into view up ahead. With a victory whoop, he broke off into a run, pulling Hunk along for the ride.

  
He slammed open the double doors of the store and spotted Keith and the others paying. He immediately tackled Keith, who was handing the cashier, a younger guy with the most amazing beard Lance had ever seen, a wrinkled five-dollar bill. The money fell on the counter as Keith and Lance tumbled over, Keith flailing all the way down as Lance laughed. They both hit the floor with a thud.

  
“Hey babe,” Lance said.

  
“Oh my god you’re causing a scene,” Keith said, voice muffled by Lance’s entire body.

  
“True love,” the barista said with mock sarcasm, laughing good-naturedly at the display. With some maneuvering, Keith peeled Lance off of him and took his receipt from the cashier.

  
“It’s good to see you,” Keith said, helping Lance up off the floor and pulling him into a hard hug. His voice was thick, and Lance hugged him harder.

  
“You still up to hang tonight?” Lance murmured into his ear, and Keith nodded. They pulled away from each other.

  
“Hello Keith, Shiro, Pidge; it’s nice to see you again,” Hunk said.

  
“So I take it you actually did get lost again,” Pidge said with a pleased cackle.

  
“What matters is you’re finally here,” Shiro said with a placating smile. “Right on time to hang for a while, and the line isn’t even that long.”

  
Lance’s stomach growled, and as if on cue, Hunk’s joined in with a lovely harmony.

  
“We’ll be right there,” Lance promised, and the three walked over to the barista, who had already made two of the three drinks.

  
Lance perused the food options available; all of them were overpriced, but his stomach didn’t care enough to take him anywhere else. Ahead and behind him, people were making the same difficult choice he was: which ten dollar sandwich or eight dollar fruit cup they were going to have to buy for the sake of their stomachs, if not their wallets.

  
And then—jackpot! Lance spotted what he had been hoping for—one beautiful, tasty (cost effective, by Starbucks’ standards) plain bagel.

  
The girl in front of him, another redhead (just how many were there on this campus?) said, “I’ll take that one,” and pointed at the one thing in the store he would have willingly eaten and not felt bad about afterwards.

  
“Nice, last one,” the cashier said, grabbing it before Lance could so much as whimper at the loss.

  
“Best to just let it go, man,” Hunk said, giving Lance’s shoulder a sympathetic pat. “Plenty of fish in the sea. Specifically, tuna.”

  
He held up the limp tuna sandwich he was holding, as if it offered Lance any condolences. With a sigh, Lance grabbed one as well.

  
They both ordered a drink and after paying, hung around the barista.

  
“Your friend looks exactly like someone I know,” she said, nodding at Pidge. “Except they’re a little taller.”

  
“Yeah, Pidge is literally a ten year old child,” Hunk said, taking one of the coffees she handed him. He grabbed Lance’s, as Lance had both their sandwiches in hand. “Also a certified genius, or so they keep telling us. Have a nice day!”

  
The barista returned the sentiment and they joined their friends.

  
Lance and Hunk inhaled their sandwiches, sharing bits of info they had picked up in between bites.

  
“Like, there’s like forty ways to get here,” Lance was saying. “And the dorms are so small! Bigger than UF’s, but still…”

  
“And we share a bathroom with two other people!” Hunk picked up the train of thought. “I don’t know them! What if they’re weird, or racist, or something like that…”

  
“And its barren in there! Nothing on the walls, the lighting is unnatural, you’d think we’d moved into a prison…”

  
“Well, at least you don’t have to deal with traffic or shuttle schedules,” Keith said.

  
“At least you don’t have your dad drive you to school every day,” Pidge chimed in.

  
“I guess,” Lance said with a shrug. “What are your schedules all like?”

  
“Class every day,” Keith said. “You?”

  
“Every day except Fridays, where you’ll find me at the Library!” Lance said.

  
Keith and Shiro both gave him a look of utter disbelief.

  
“The Library’s a bar,” Pidge explained. “Which he isn’t allowed in to due to his age and the fact that he’d scare away the night life faster than he ate his sandwich, which, by the way, thanks for making us watch that. I don’t think I’ll ever look at fish the same way again.”

  
“You’ll live,” Lance said flippantly. “But it does suck we can’t cook in the dorms.”

  
Hunk groaned, agony on his face. “People sneak in hotplates, but that’s not a real solution. They have one kitchen for like four hundred people! How are we supposed to eat? Because I’m not buying a meal plan.”

  
“Eat dinner with us,” Shiro said, gesturing to Keith. “We’ve got space.”

  
“Yeah,” Keith agreed, eyes on Lance. “It’s not a problem if we split costs.”

  
“We’ll probably take you up on that,” Hunk said, mulling it over. “Beats being expelled for cooking a can of beans, anyway.”

  
Pidge laughed and immediately demanded to be added back to the group; Shiro added them.

  
5:12 PM  
nerdtron named the group expelled for illicit bean cooking.

“Oh my god, Pidge,” Hunk said.

  
“It’s getting late if we want to make dinner,” Shiro said. “And we still need to go to the store.”

  
“I’m down to go now,” Hunk said.

“Same,” Pidge agreed.

  
Lance and Keith looked at each other, and the rest of the group looked at them.

  
“We’ll take Hunk’s car,” Shiro declared, pulling out his keys and tossing them at Keith, who blushed a little at being read so easily. “Don’t let Lance drive under any circumstances.”

  
“We’ll probably get something to eat later, if we’re hungry,” Lance said. “Don’t wait up for us.”

  
“See you lovebirds later,” Hunk said, noting that Lance had, if possibly, gone redder than earlier once he understood what his friends were implying.

  
“Oh my god, guys, we aren’t going to do anything—”

  
“Kay cool don’t want to know see you later!” Pidge yelled in a single breath, pushing Shiro and Hunk away from the table and towards the door. “Be safe don’t do anything I wouldn’t do and always remember to leave space for Jes—oof!”

  
In their haste, Pidge crashed into the person walking into the store, knocking both of them down.

  
“Ugh, sorry,” Pidge said, immediately standing and helping the other person up.

  
“It’s fine, don’t worry…about…” the two looked at each other like anyone else looked into a mirror; they were nearly identical. “Uh…”

  
The person quickly walked away, followed by two of their friends, a 5’5’ black kid with a skateboard and a taller girl with short, auburn hair, who were both staring at Pidge like they didn’t know what to do with them.

  
Once out of earshot, Pidge said, “That was weird.”

  
5:14 PM  
hank changed nerdtron’s nickname to kill your double.

[kill your double]: Im not even mad what just happened  
[hank]: It’s a big campus u probably wont see them again  
[kill your double]: I cant believe  
[UCF’s fastest and furiousest]: Its just coincidence  
[kill your double]: I don’t know if im supposed to fight them on site next time I see them or be friends  
[keith] Let the other you decide  
[dumbkidmclame]: Definitely fight them  
[dumbkidmclame]: Assert your dominance  
[kill your double]: They’re taller than me what if I lose???  
[hank]: I think there’s a hospital in the area if u need to go that badly  
[UCF’s fastest and furiousest]: If you do fight them could you schedule it around my class times so I don’t miss anything when I drive you?  
[keith]: You’ll probably live  
[kill your double]: gee thanks everyone for the vote of confidence

* * *

Keith pocketed his phone and turned to Lance, who was staring at his coffee.

  
“Wanna go for a walk?” Keith asked.

  
“Yes!” Lance replied immediately.

  
They walked with no destination in mind, their conversation as aimless as their feet. They asked how each other was, how they were holding up, what they were looking forward to at college. They walked and talked until it got dark, then walked and talked some more.

  
It was a breath of fresh air and a punch to the gut at the same time. It’d been nearly a month since they’d last seen each other, but it could have been a lifetime, how they felt.

Eventually, their voices quieted, and their feet found a small bridge over a pond, far from intruding eyes and glaring lamp posts.

  
“I really missed you,” Lance said softly, leaning on the bridge rail. The stars twinkled above them. “Worse than I thought I would. Worse than I thought I could.”

  
Keith took Lance’s hand and twisted their fingers together. Lance squeezed his hand, looking up at the stars.

  
“It was like I was missing some big part of me. I missed being with you,” Lance continued. “Stars are beautiful tonight.”

  
“They sure are,” Keith said, eyes never leaving Lance’s face. He knew how much Lance loved the stars, and knowing that Lance would want to talk about them filled Keith with things he’d never felt before.

  
“I think the night sky is easily the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” Lance was rambling now, eyes shining bright, voice watery. “I called my mom earlier.”

  
“What did she say?” Keith asked, brushing his fingers up against Lance’s.

  
“Usual stuff,” Lance said. “Be safe, get good grades…and she wants to meet you.”

  
“I want to meet her, too,” Keith said. “Finally meet the saint that raised you.”

  
“Ouch,” Lance said, pretending to wince. “You cut me deep, Keith.”

  
“Only as a joke,” Keith said seriously. “Never on purpose. I want you to know that.”

  
“I know,” Lance said with a smile, eyes tracing constellations in the sky. He pointed South. “You see that star over there?”

  
Keith grudgingly looked up at the star Lance was pointing at, twinkling bright against the ink black canvas it had been painted on.

  
“That’s Aquila, the eagle,” Lance said. “Shows up this time of year. He represents the eagle that carried Zeus’ thunderbolts. Reminds me of you, when you’re mad. In a good way, if that makes sense. Like if something was wrong, and a righteous fury was what would set it right again.”

  
“Hey Lance,” Keith said, and Lance finally tore his eyes from the sky. “Not to sound uninterested, but I’m not too blown away by the sky tonight.”

  
Keith leaned forward, hands twisting in Lance’s hair, gently pulling him close. Keith pressed a chaste kiss onto Lance’s lips, wrapping an arm around him.

  
“Not when I’ve got better things to look at, right in front of me.”

  
And Lance, who thought nothing in this world was as beautiful or perfect as the night sky above his head—who thought it was resplendent, so glorious that everything else fell away when he looked at it—smiled and kissed him back, stars all but forgotten above the two of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Phase 3: complete  
> Happy birthday again, Shiloh!


End file.
